Wednesday, March 11, 2015

The fight for 2015 Singapore National Barista Championship title and the winner is…..

This was my first time attending a coffee related championship. The aroma of traditional coffee had been in my family business
for a long time. As my family dialect is Foochow, the Foochow Coffeeshop
Association and clan are famous for their traditional coffeeshop business.

Both my deceased grandfathers used to have a string of
coffeeshops in Singapore. Sitting at the coffeeshop and over a cup of coffee,
their children became my parents. I shall not write too much about traditional
coffeeshop since this post is about the best Barista competing for the prestigious title.

John Ryan Ting was crowned champion of the Singapore
National Barista Championship (SNBC) 2015 on Saturday. He beat 15 other
baristas in a gruelling competition where they had to present an espresso, a
cappucino and their own signature drink within 15 minutes, before a panel of
judges. John was Singapore National Barista Champion in 2008 and 2009 and he
had spent the past four years as a judge for barista championships. For
clinching the top prize, John will be representing Singapore at World Barista
Championship 2015 at Seattle this April.

Beside John, the other five finalists were Loke Xinyi of
Common Man Coffee Roasters (who is also Singapore Barista Champion 2014);
Dennis Tang of Nylon Coffee; Regina Tay and Zenn Soon of Strangers Reunion; and
Lee Hee Wei from Olla Specialty Coffee. Regina and Zenn are the second and
first runners-up respectively.

The SNBC is an annual competition held by the Singapore Coffee
Association to identify the best talents in the art of the Barista.

Singapore's coffee culture has been on the rise for the past
few years. One exciting event coffee lovers can look forward to is Cafe Asia
2015, which will be held in 19 to 21 March 2015 at Marina Bay Sands (Hall E).

Visitors to Cafe Asia 2015 can also witness the crème de la crème battle it out
at Singapore National Latte Art Championship 2015.

In conclusion, we at seedwrites, hope John will win big in Seattle this April and put Singapore into the world map of coffee culture.

Here are more of the photos taken during the championship.

An emotional moment, when the champion, John came down the stage to serve a cup of coffee to his mother, who came to support him.

If you require an event photographer, wedding photographer or any other professional photography services, do email me ( Derrick See ) at see323@yahoo.com.sg . You can also message me at my FACEBOOK account. To view my photos, click My Flicker Photos